Western Collegiate Hockey Association Bruce M. McLeod Commissioner Carol LaBelle-Ehrhardt Assistant Commissioner of Operations Greg Shepherd Supervisor of Officials Administrative Office April 6, 2012/For Release at 5:45 pm ET Western Collegiate Hockey Association 2211 S. Josephine Street, Room 302 Denver, CO 80210 Seven WCHA Member-Team Players Honored as CCM Hockey p: 303 871-4491. f: 303 871-4770 [email protected] Division 1 All-Americans for 2011-12 Doug Spencer First Team Selections are UMD’s Connolly, CC’s Schwartz, UW’s Schultz; Second Team Associate Commissioner for Public Relations Honorees Include UM’s Bjugstad, UMD’s Brown, UM’s Patterson, DU’s Zucker Western Collegiate Hockey Association 559 D’Onofrio Drive, Ste. 103 MADISON, Wis. – Seven Western Collegiate Hockey Association member-team players, including Madison, WI 53719-2096 three first team selections, are among the 24 skaters announced today (April 6) as Division 1 Men’s p: 608 829-0100. f: 608 829-0200 All-Americans for 2011-12 from the NCAA Men’s Frozen Four being held in Tampa, Fla. [email protected] West First Team honorees from the WCHA are Minnesota Duluth senior forward Jack Connolly, Home of a Collegiate Record 37 Colorado College sophomore forward Jaden Schwartz and Wisconsin junior defenseman Justin Schultz. Both Connolly and Schultz are repeat First Team All-Americans. West Second Team All-Ameri- Men’s National Championship can selections were Minnesota sophomore forward Nick Bjugstad, Minnesota Duluth sophomore Teams Since 1951 forward J.T. Brown, Minnesota senior goaltender Kent Patterson and Denver sophomore forward 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, Jason Zucker. 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1973, 1974, Since the completion of their seasons, Schwartz, Brown and Zucker have all opted to forgo their 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, remaining collegiate eligibility and signed professional playing contracts. Schwartz signed with 1982, 1983, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1997, the NHL’s St. Louis Blues, Brown with the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning and Zucker with the NHL’s 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, Minnesota Wild. 2011 The nation’s top 24 college hockey players represent 17 different Division 1 schools. Leading the Men’s Conference Members way with three selections was ECAC Champion and NCAA Frozen Four semifinalist Union College. University of Alaska Anchorage The other three Frozen Four semifinalists – Boston College, Ferris State and Minnesota – each had Bemidji State University two honorees. Colorado College Noteworthy this year: University of Denver • Three players repeated as First Team choices: Boston College junior defenseman Brian Du- Michigan Technological University University of Minnesota moulin, Wisconsin junior defenseman Justin Schultz and Minnesota Duluth senior forward Jack University of Minnesota Duluth Connolly. Connolly was also a Second Team selection in 2010. Minnesota State University • There are 15 players from the United States and nine from Canada. University of Nebraska Omaha • The U.S. selections come from Minnesota (5), Michigan (3), Massachusetts (2), Maine (1), University of North Dakota St. Cloud State University Nevada (1), Pennsylvania (1), Texas (1) and Wisconsin (1). The Canadian honorees hail from Ontario University of Wisconsin (3), Quebec (2), Saskatchewan (2), British Columbia (1) and Manitoba (1). • Eleven of the honorees are seniors. Of the other 13, six are juniors and seven are sopho- 2012 Red Baron™ mores. WCHA Final Five • The ECAC and WCHA each had seven All-Americans, followed by five from the CCHA, four March 15-17 • Xcel Energy Center from Hockey East, and one from Atlantic Hockey. Saint Paul, MN • Eighteen players participated in the NCAA Tournament. Nine of them advanced to the NCAA Frozen Four. visit us on the web at: • The honorees include nine of the 10 finalists for the 2012 Hobey Baker Memorial Award, the one omission being Michigan senior goaltender Shawn Hunwick. wcha.com The CCM Hockey All-American Ice Hockey Teams are sponsored by CCM HOCKEY and chosen by members of the American Hockey Coaches Association. CCM is the legendary hockey brand dedi- cated to the endless pursuit of performance by delivering game-changing, head-to-toe innovative hockey equipment to players worldwide. WCHA Men’s Release • All-Americans • 040612 2011-12 AHCA/CCM Hockey Men’s Division 1 WCHA All-American Player Profiles All-American Teams Jack Connolly, Sr., F, Minnesota Duluth All-American West First Team All-American West First Team Goalie: Taylor Nelson, Sr., Ferris State University (Regina, SK) Became the school’s second three-time All-American in 2011-12 Defense: Torey Krug, Jr., Michigan State University (Livonia, MI) and the first Bulldog to ever attain All-WCHA First Team status on Defense: Justin Schultz, Jr., University of Wisconsin* three occasions … Finished second in the country in both scoring (West Kelowna, BC) (a career-high 60 points) and in assists (40) this past winter … Was Forward: Jack Connolly, Sr., University of Minnesota Duluth*# named the 2011-12 WCHA Player of the Year after reigning as the (Duluth, MN) league’s scoring champion … 2012 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award Forward: Jaden Schwartz, So., Colorado College (Wilcox, SK) winner as the most outstanding senior student-athlete in Div. 1 Forward: Reilly Smith, Jr., Miami University (Mimico, ON) hockey … All-WCHA Academic Team honoree … Is the first Bulldog in 18 years to post 50 or more points in back-to-back seasons … Skated in a school-record 166 straight games since joining the All-American East First Team Bulldogs three years ago … Closed out his playing days ranking Goalie: Troy Grosenick, So., Union College (Brookfield, WI) eighth on UMD’s all-time scoring charts with 197 points – 34 Defense: Danny Biega, Jr., Harvard University (Montreal, QC) more points than the next closed current NCAA competitor … Defense: Brian Dumoulin, Jr., Boston College* (Biddeford, ME) Captained the Bulldogs to a 25-10-6 overall record and their third Forward: Spencer Abbott, Sr., University of Maine (Hamilton, ON) NCAA tournament berth in the past four season … Is a two-time Forward: Alex Killorn, Sr., Harvard University (Montreal, QC) Hobey Baker Memorial Award finalist – a UMD program first… Forward: Austin Smith, Sr., Colgate University (Dallas, TX) Justin Schultz, Jr., D, Wisconsin All-American West Second Team All-American West First Team Goalie: Kent Patterson, Sr., University of Minnesota Schultz’ selection makes him the fourth Badger named a two-time (Plymouth, MN) First Team All-American, and the second defensemen … Schultz Defense: Chad Billins, Sr., Ferris State University (Marysville, MI) joins forward Mike Eaves (1977, ’78), forward Mark Johnson (1978, Defense: Dan DeKeyser, So., Western Michigan University ’79) and defenseman Craig Norwich (1976, ’77) as two-time First (Clay Township, MI) Team All-Americans … he is the school’s first two-time Hobey Forward: Nick Bjugstad, So., University of Minnesota Baker Memorial Award top-10 finalist … His 16 goals this season (Blaine, MN) made him the first defenseman in program history to lead the Forward: J.T. Brown, So., University of Minnesota Duluth team in goal scoring for a season … He was on the ice for 69 of (Burnsville, MN) Wisconsin’s 105 goals, 27 of UW’s 33 power-play goals and 10 of Forward: Jason Zucker, So., University of Denver (Las Vegas, NV) the squad’s 17 game-winning tallies during the 2011-12 season … Schultz posted scoring streaks of 10 and seven games during All-American East Second Team the season … The 10-game streak was the longest for a Badger Goalie: Joe Cannata, Sr., Merrimack College (Wakefield, MA) defenseman since the 1986-87 campaign … he is just the third Defense: Mat Bodie, So., Union College (East St. Paul, MB) skater in WCHA history to win two WCHA Defensive Player of the Defense: Tim Kirby, Sr., U.S. Air Force Academy (Austin, MN) Year awards … Schultz leads all national blue-liners in scoring for Forward: Barry Almeida, Sr., Boston College (Springfield, MA) the second consecutive season with 44 points, boasting a 1.19 Forward: Brian O’Neill, Sr., Yale University (Yardley, PA) points per game scoring average … The next closest defenseman Forward: Jeremy Welsh, Jr., Union College (Bayfield, ON) is averaging 1.03 points per game … Schultz’s 40 career goals rank ninth-best all-time among WCHA defenseman and third in * First Team in 2010-11; # Second Team in 2009-10 school history. Jaden Schwartz, So., F, Colorado College All-American West First Team Led Colorado College in scoring for second consecutive season with 41 points (15g, 26a) in just 30 games … Factored in on seven game-winning goals, scoring four (tying for the team high) and assisting on three … Served as captain for bronze medalist Canada at the 2011-12 IIHF Junior World Championships … named to All- WCHA Second Team … Earned a CC-best +6 plus/minus rating for the season … Recorded at least one point in 26 outings, with two or more in 12 … Now playing for the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League, who drafted him in 2010 first round. WCHA Men’s Release • All-Americans • 040612 J.T. Brown, So., F, Minnesota Duluth Jason Zucker, So., F, Denver All-American West Second Team All-American West Second Team Leads the nation in plus/minus (+29) and shots on goal (187) … Zucker ranked second on the University of Denver team in 2011- Established career bests for goals (a team-leading 24), assists (23), 12 with 46 points on 22 goals and 24 assists … named All-WCHA power-play